Combined lift stick and ball



- United States Patent Gardner C. Batten Walts River, Vermont 05086 (R.F.D. West Topsham, VT)

Sept. 20, 1967 Nov. 10, 1970 Inventor App]. No. Filed Patented COMBINED LIFT STICK AND BALL 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 273/95, 273/67, 124/5 Int. Cl. A63b 65/12 Field ofSeareh 273/95, 96, 118,129, 67; 124/4, 5,1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,5 85,446 5/1926 Warwick 124/5 2,366,782 1/1945 Gorsuch 273/118X 3,231,278 1/1966 Boulanger 273/95UX 810,224 1/1906 Sackett 273/129UX 1,674,715 6/1928 Caulkins..." 273/129X 2,935,323 7 5/1960 Cummings 273/129 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Thomas Zack Attorney-Pennie, Edmonds, Morton, Taylor and Adams ABSTRACT: The game of Lift Ball involves the use of target balls and playing balls, the playing balls being directed against the target balls to displace these balls from the positions which they occupy at the beginning of the game.

Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,539,1

Sheet 1 of 2 PLAYING BALLS (BLACK) NUMBERED l l J I l I I I l I I l l I I I I I I IL I W I L l I I I I I r L I I I I I I L I I l I I I I I I l I l I I I00 FT.

FOUR CENTER TARGET BALLS (WHITE)v @L a a 200FT.

l 25FT. 25 FT. -L 25FT.- -J 1i Iva 5PT. i 25 FT. i- 25FT. I00 FT. A I I l I l I l I I I I l I I L I l I I I I I L I I l I l .J I I l I: I I l l I I I f 2 3 I I 9 'k 4%} U U PLAYING BALLS IBLACK) NUMBERED INVENTOR GARDNER C. BATTEN 7 FIG. I 0M, fMlfi,

T 9 64mm H ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,5393% Sheet 2 012 INVENTOR GARDNER C. BATTEN HIS ATTORNEYS COMBINED LIFT STICK AND BALL BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the game of Lift Ball, the target balls, one for each player, are placed each on a low support at the center of a playing field. The contestants, two or more in number, using the playing sticks of special'construction advance each playing ball by a combined lifting and throwing operation, towards, and if possible. against a target ball. The object is to dislodge the target balls from their supports in as few lifts as possible.

The invention concerns more particularly, the special form of playing stick, or lift stick used, which has an elongated shaft or handle that is manipulated by both hands of the player, and which has a special form of head of cuplike formation, open at one side as well as the end, for lifting, rather than striking, the playing ball to advance it in the direction of the target ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a diagrammatic view drawn to a small scale, and with parts broken away, of a playing field for the Lift Ball game;

FIG. 2 is a view in elevation of a target ball resting upon its support shown in central vertical section;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the Lift Ball playing stick or lift stick;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the lift stick;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the lift stick looking from the left of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a player holding a lift stick with its head portion against a playing ball ready to make a lifting stroke; and

FIG. 7 shows the outer portion of the lift stick of FIG. 6 still in the hands of the player but after the lifting stroke has commenced. It is drawn to a larger scale than FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The game of Lift Ball can be played formally by professionals or amateurs, or as a lawn game. When played formally either by amateurs or professionals the playing field should be flat and smooth and is laid out approximately as shown in FIG. 1. The field shown is 200 feet in length and about 125 feet in width. There are four target balls, 1, 2, 3 and 4 which are white in color and are arranged on the center line of the field and spaced 25-feet apart, with balls 1 and 4 25 feet from the respective side margins of the field. Each of these balls rests upon a support 5 (FIG. 2) which may be in the form ofa hollow l-inch diameter ring having height of about one-fourth inch.

In a formal game there are eight players, four at each end of the playing field and therefore four starting positions, numbered I, 2, 3 and 4 at each end of the field. These starting positions are each 100 feet from their respective target balls. The dotted lines 6 extending partially lengthwise of the field indicate the playing lanes for the respective opposing players. The playing balls are black in color and bear identifying numerals. They usually have the same diameter as the target balls. namely 3 inches although they may be either larger or smaller, if desired. Usually all balls are alike in weight and resiliency and may be made of molded plastic, or other suitably resilient material.

For reference purposes the team at one end of the field may be referred to as the Red Team and that at the other end, the Blue Team. Each player is equipped with a lift stick such as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the construction and use of which will be described in detail further on.

When the Lift Ball game is played on a lawn that is comparatively small the opposing players can lift from the same position and at a distance of their own choosing from the target ball, or they may lift from opposite sides of the ball, if desired.

A player lifts or shoots at the target ball by placing his lift stick in contact with the playing ball at the point where it rests on the surface of the playing field and merely by raising the lift stick, pushes'and lifts the ball directly in front of him; and causes it to move through the air in the direction of the target ball. First, one team will lift, one player at a time, at the target ball or balls. Afterwards the opposing team will lift and this completes one rotation". The team members who lift first will keep on lifting until the target ball or balls are knocked off the ring at the center line. The team which accomplishes this with the smallest number of lifts, wins.

A game of Lift Ball will ordinarily be completed in ten rotations, although when playing informally any number of rotations may be agreed upon as constituting a game.

The playing field is desirably provided with cross lines, 5- feet apart which are referred to as advantage lines. The first advantage" line is earned by the player who has the least number of lifts after any given rotation. Such a player will move up to an fadvantage line and thus be 5 feet closer to the target ball, and lift his playing ball from this point when his next rotation begins.

Circles 8, 2 feet in diameter are placed around each of the four target ball positions. Should a playing ball stop inside of this 2-feet circle without dislodging the target ball, the playing ball must be placed on the circle and lifted again until the target ball is dislodged.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the lift stick 7 may be between 3% and 6 feet in length, and, advantageously, is about 44 inches long. It has a head portion 9 and a shaft portion 10. The outer part of the shaft portion which is grasped by the hands of the player is desirably cylindrical and is large enough in diameter to give the player the necessary control in aiming and raising the stick to lift and toss or throw the playing ball. The head portion 9 is a partially hollow bulbous member of cuplike formation open at the end of the stick and also having a portion ofthe top side open to aid the player in correctly applying the stick to the ball and also to aid him in tossing it in the right direction. Theinner surface 11 of the cuplike formation which is generally spheroidal in shape is placed in contact with the surface of the ball. The top opening is made by slabbing along a plane 12 at an angle which may, for example, be about 30 to the axis of stick 7. The interior of the cup forms a cup-shaped pocket within which the under and side portions of the ball may be engaged.

The inner-surface 11 of this pocket is advantageously approximately spherical in shape and only very slightly larger than the playing ball so that the ball will approximately fit the surface 11 but will easily slip into and out of the pocket. With a 3-inches diameter ball the radius of the surface 11 is about 1% inches so that the spherical inner surface 11 is close to the size of the playing ball. The ball will be supported by the pocket laterally as well as below so as to assist the player in directing the ball as he scoops or tosses it into its trajectory.

The mouth i.e., the front edge or end surface 13, of the cupshaped pocket is approximately at right angles to the axis of lift stick 7, and the inner surface 11 shaped to provide a thinning of the edge or lower lip of the pocket along the bottom as shown at 14 in FIG. 5. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the axis of the cup-shaped pocket is in alignment with the axis of shaft 10. The outer surface of head portion 9 can be rounded in shape or it can be partially cylindrical as shown at 15 having a diameter corresponding with the size of the 3-inches ball plus the thickness of the wall of the cuplike head. Such cylindrical portion may be joined to the cylindrical portion 10 of shaft 7 by means of a curved section 16 and a tapered section I7.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 the player illustrated in FIG. 6 is holding the lift stick with the thin edge portion 14 of head 9 approximately in contact with the surface of the ground, and with the interior spheroidal surface 11 of the head in contact with the rear surface of a playing ball, for example ball 1. No space is permitted between the rear surface of the ball and the surface 11 of the pocket so that the ball is not struck but merely lifted and tossed by manipulating the lift stick.

In the position of the lift stick in FIG. 7 the ball still rests in contact with the surface of the lift stick pocket, and. is still being pushed forward and lifted. In FIG. 7 it will be understood that the lift stick has been raised by the arms of the player merely to a higher position from the surface of the ground. As the player continues to lift the stick in the direction of the arrow it will be further understood that the ball is thrown or tossed into normal flight through the air and in the direction of one of the target balls. The open top of head 9 facilitates the application of the lift stick to the ball resting on the playing surface, and the closeness of the pocket walls on the opposite sides of the opening, although leaving the ball free to move out, assists the player in guiding the ball in the direction of its flight.

While the lift stick illustrated and described herein is constructed of one piece of wood, it will be understood that other materials, such as a suitable plastic may be used, and also that the head portion 9 and the shaft portion may be separately manufactured and then assembled, as for example, after the manner of a golf club such as a driver.

lclaim: l. A lift ball stick and playing ball for use in combination therewith in a lift ball game comprising:

a. a resilient playing ball; and b. a lift ball stick comprising a shaft manipulatable by a player and terminating at its lower end in a head, said head being hollowed to provide a cup-shaped pocket disposed in alignment with the axis of the shaft with the lower front edge surface of said pocket lying in a plane disposed approximately at right angles to the axis of the shaft, and said pocket having an inner surface spheroidal in shape and only very slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of said playing ball. 

